Another thief, robs us of priceless treasures

By Alice Cullinan

Published: Thursday, December 27, 2012 at 08:05 PM.

Perhaps we feel helpless when fear hits us, so we do what we can do – we wrongly conclude that we can at least help to some degree if we worry. We may think that failure to worry is lack of caring about the person or situation. Some of us try to conceal worry by calling it “concern.” Is worry easier to accept than the fear that is behind it? Do we worry because we have learned this type of behavior? Have we ever accepted the fact that worry and faith are enemies and cannot ever coexist?

While we are pondering these questions, it will be helpful to think about what Jesus said regarding the topic of worry. He clearly and repeatedly said, “Don’t do it!” (Mt. 6:25-34).

I hope you will evaluate your sources of worry, considering that behind them is the enemy of fear. I also hope you will ponder the questions I have posed in this article.

But in the final analysis, I recommend you follow Jesus’ advice and stop doing it! And how do you do that? Remember who is in charge of your life!

Dr. Alice Cullinan, professor emerita of Religion, Gardner-Webb University, is spiritual enrichment leader of the Greater Cleveland County Baptist Association. She is the author of three books and nineteen devotional books.

The surveillance camera recorded the scene of a burglary in a Charlotte bank. The perpetrator wielded his gun as he grabbed cash from the teller’s hand. The camera angle was correctly positioned to record the faces of all who stand in front of the teller, but a closer look at the recording of the burglary, shown on the 6 p.m. news, reveals that the robber is wearing a rubber mask. It will be nearly impossible to discover his true identity. It required some other method of identification to catch and convict him of this crime.

There is another thief loose among us all, robbing us of priceless treasures, and often equally as difficult to identify. Unfortunately, many of us have simply reconciled ourselves to such “thievery,” and have convinced ourselves that there is nothing we can do about the situation.

Can you imagine the hopelessness we would feel if someone broke into our home every night and stole things? I think we would be much more diligent to do whatever it took to arrive at some solution. I doubt any of us would simply let the robberies continue. We would marshal all of the resources and helpers needed to protect our lives and possessions. My questions, then, are these:

(1) Have we ever realized that worry is a thief that daily robs us of many blessings, such as peace, joy and contentment?

(2) Have we decided that worry is normal and we are helpless to do anything about it?

(3) Have we ever considered that fear is behind much of our worry, the sometimes unidentified perpetrator of grief and heartache?

Perhaps worry is our way of trying to control what are in reality uncontrollable situations. Or it may be a feeble attempt to eliminate fear, the true source of what we call worry.

Perhaps we feel helpless when fear hits us, so we do what we can do – we wrongly conclude that we can at least help to some degree if we worry. We may think that failure to worry is lack of caring about the person or situation. Some of us try to conceal worry by calling it “concern.” Is worry easier to accept than the fear that is behind it? Do we worry because we have learned this type of behavior? Have we ever accepted the fact that worry and faith are enemies and cannot ever coexist?

While we are pondering these questions, it will be helpful to think about what Jesus said regarding the topic of worry. He clearly and repeatedly said, “Don’t do it!” (Mt. 6:25-34).

I hope you will evaluate your sources of worry, considering that behind them is the enemy of fear. I also hope you will ponder the questions I have posed in this article.

But in the final analysis, I recommend you follow Jesus’ advice and stop doing it! And how do you do that? Remember who is in charge of your life!

Dr. Alice Cullinan, professor emerita of Religion, Gardner-Webb University, is spiritual enrichment leader of the Greater Cleveland County Baptist Association. She is the author of three books and nineteen devotional books.